#24 sent → feel, sense

Quick Summary

The Latin root sent and its variant form sens mean to ‘feel.’ Some common English words that come from these two roots include sensation, sensible, resent, and consent. Remember that when you sense something you ‘feel’ it, and when you are being sentimental, your ‘feelings’ take precedence over anything else.

Ingredient Memlet: consensus

When everyone in a group has reached a similar opinion that they have “felt with” other members of the group, that group has reached a consensus.

Sensational ‘Sens’ & ‘Sent’

The Latin root sent and its variant form sens mean to “feel.”

When something makes sense to you, you can easily get a ‘feeling’ for it. When something is nonsensical, on the other hand, you can’t get a ‘feeling’ for it at all! When you do something sensible, it’s what is ‘felt’ to be the right thing to do.

Humans ‘feel’ what is around them through their sensory apparatus, that is, their five senses, or ‘feelers.’ This faculty of sensation allows us all to ‘feel’ the world around us. Imagine if you were insensate, or had no ‘feeling’ whatsoever! People who are sensitive might prefer that, for they tend to ‘feel’ too much and so are susceptible to getting their ‘feelings’ hurt.

Having sensed that you are now ‘feeling’ pretty good about the root word sens, let’s move on to its variant sent, which also means to ‘feel.’ If you are a highly sentimental person, for instance, your ‘feelings’ rule your reaction to the world at large.

Our interactions with one another cause ‘feelings’ to waver. Let’s say that you are having a conversation with your best friend, and she asks you for your opinion. You can assent or agree to it by sending your ‘feelings’ towards her way of thinking. In the same fashion you could also consent to her wishes, or ‘feel’ similarly to her way of thinking. You could also show dissent by moving your ‘feelings’ away from what she is proposing. You might also resent what she has said by flinging your angry ‘feelings’ back at her!

Ever wonder why a sentry is called a sentry? Or a sentinel a sentinel? It is because both a sentry and a sentinel are able to keenly ‘feel’ or perceive who or what is around them, hence are able to do their guard duties effectively.

I’m ‘feeling’ that this would be a sensible time to stop, to which I’m sure you will assent. Glad to have had you on our short journey of ‘feeling’ out sens and sent!